Fingerprinting apparatus



y 1944- P; K. SOWASH 2353;420

FINGER PRINTING APPARATUS Filed Sept. 29, 1943 Patented July 11, 1944 UNITED STATES eATENT OFFICE FIN GERPRINTING APPABATU S Park K. Sowash, South Arlington, Va. Application September 29, 1943, Serial No. 504,329

3 Claims.

The present invention relates to finger printing apparatus and more particularly to a novel finger print inking device and the combination of such a device with positioning means for the cards on which the impressions are made.

A primary object of the invention is to increase the speed at which identification finger prints can be taken successively of a plurality of subjects.

Other important objects are to provide finger printing equipment which .can be easily and inexpensively constructed and which will be durable, rugged and fool-proof in use.

. In the taking of identification finger prints it is customary to roll or press the fingers of the subject on an inked slab and then apply the im- ,pressions to a record card. The slab must be rolled with ink over that part of its surface from which ink has been removed incident to the taking of a previous impression, and considerable time is lost in rolling the ink on the slab between the taking of successive impressions. The slab is necessarily best made of small area, and it is important, in the interest of speedy operation, to have the inked slab surface closely juxtaposed to the card on which the impression is to be made. An important advantage of the present construction resides in the fact that it locates the slab in extremely close relationship to the card, so that the loss of time in moving the finger of the subject from the slab to the card is reduced to a minimum. Another advantage results from making the slab movable so that it can be turned between the taking of impressions of successive subjects so that a freshly inked area of the slab will be presented, in the case of each subject, in very close relation to the card on which the impression is to be made.

The invention has been reduced to actual practice and it has been demonstrated that its use results in an appreciable saving in time.

With the foregoing and other objects and advantages in View, the invention consists, in a preferred form of embodiment, in the structure illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a top plan view of the apparatus mounted on a portion of the surface of a table, desk, or the like;

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view of the apparatus; and

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

In the drawing the reference numeral I designates a portion of the top of a table, desk or View taken on the other ordinary piece of office furniture on which 55 the new device is mounted. The structure consists essentially of a low platform 2 mounted on legs .3 which are more or less permanently secured to the supporting surface .I as by means of the angle strips 4 and screws 5. The legs are best made rhomboidal in shape, as clearly appears in Fig. 3., so that when their bases are secured somewhat behind the front edge of the supporting surface the front edge of the platform 2 will be more or less aligned vertically with the front edge of the supporting surface. The combination of the platform and legs forms a sort of bridge which straddles means for holding finger print cards.

A single card may be mounted under the bridge, but it is better to provide two or more, as shown in the drawing, where a pair of card holders 6, 6 are shown mounted on the supporting surface I with space between them and the platform 2 suflicient to admit an inked finger into printing engagement with a card in each of the holders. .By the use of a plurality of cards and holders it is possible to make multipie card records, sothat One can be retained in the oiiice where the impression is made and the other .or others can be sent to some central or associated identification a ency. The bridge structure may be made of any suitable material, but I find that inch plywood, depicted in the drawing, is admirable for the purpose.

The card holders are conventional and need not be described except to explain that their front edges are preferabiy set to overhang slightly the front edge of the supporting surface A. By this arrangement, when a card is first positioned in a holder that part of its area on which the final impressions are to be made will hang more or less vertically down along the front of the support, where it will be out of the way of the operator and the subject, who stand at the front of the support, and is therefore not likely to be accidentally touched by them.

The platform is intended to mount an inking slab l, which is conveniently made of the usual plate glass. The slab is seated by a metal strip 3 on a block 9 of wood or the like which rests on the top surface of the platform. The platform is centrally bored to receive the shank iii of a short shaft which carries a knob Ii at its lower end and is long enough to permit the block 9, which is glued and/or nailed to the upper end of the shank ID, to be elevated when the knob is pushed up into contact with the bottom of the platform, so that the block will clear its seat on the platform and can be rotated. The seat for the block on the platform is formed by a thin sheet l2 of plywood, hardboard or metal, which is U-shaped in plan, being open at the front, so that its inner rear and side edges form abutments for positioning the front edge of the block 9 parallel with the front edge of the platform 2. It will be evident that elevation of the block to the limit allowed by the knob permits it to clear this seat whereupon it can be rotated through 180 to drop again into the seat. In this way that area of the inking slab which was at its rear is turned so as to bring it to the front, for a purpose which will presently be explained.

A cover for the inking slab, in the form of a bottomless cap or shield I3, made of metal, wood or the like, may be provided to rest on the sheet [2 with just enough space between it and the slab to protect the inked surface from dust.

In using the apparatus the operator first prepares the slab by rolling out sufficient ink on it in the usual way. Cards being provided in the holders 6, with their upper spaces exposed to receive impressions of the right hand, the operator takes the fingers of the first subject and successively rolls them on one side of the front half of the slab and then on the exposed area of each of the two cards in succession. The cards are then pushed back in the holders and the operation is repeated with the left hand. Ink for the left hand rolled impressions is obtained from other side of the front half of the slab. The card is then pushed further back to expose the areas which are intended to receive the plane impressions of both hands. Both hands are then inked from the slab, using the area thereof behind that from which the ink was removed by the rolled impressions, but. still in front of the median transverse line of the slab, so that the rear half of the slab remains untouched. The making of the plane impressions of both hands completes the printing. The cards are removed and replaced by others, and while the next subject is approaching the operator lifts the knob H and rotates the slab to bring its rear half to the front. No new inking or rolling of the ink is required. The printing of the second subject takes place in exactly the same way as the first, using ink from that half of the slab surface which is now forward.

After the second subject has beenprinted the slab is rolled to spread the ink out uniformly on it and the operations are repeated with two more subjects before another ink rolling operation is necessary.

After some eight to twelve subjects have been printed the slab will be reinkedin the usual way by squeezing out a small amount of ink and rolling the same uniformly over the slab surface.

It will be obvious that the present invention dispenses with the need of spreading or rolling the ink after each subject has been printed. It is necessary to spread or roll the ink only after each second subject has been printed. and in this way the ink spreading or rolling operations are cut-down to one-half of the number previously required. It will also be evident that the close juxtaposition of the slab and the cards, and particularly of the forward halfof the slab andthe cards, reduces to a minimum the distance through which the fingers must be moved from the slab to the cards. Moreover, the direction of this movement is vertical rather than horizontal and is a perfectly natural and easy operation. Additional saving in finger printing time is thus effected.

It is believed that from the foregoing the structure and advantages of the new apparatus will be sufficiently understood. It is recognized that modifications may be made within the broad principles of the invention and hence the appended claims are not to be construed as limited to the specific embodiment by which the invention has been exemplified.

I claim:

1. Finger printing apparatus comprising a main supporting surface mounting a finger print card holder, a slab support elevated above the holder and straddling the same with sufiicient space between the two to admit fingers to printing engagement with thecard, a rectangular inking slab on the support, means for elevating and rotating the slab in a plane parallel to thatv of the support to bring the rear half of its inking surface to the front, and abutment guide means fixed on the support forming a recess into which the slab may be lowered to position the slab in either of two positions apart.

2. Finger printing apparatus comprising a platform, means for mounting the platform in fixed position above a supporting surface adapted to support a finger print record sheet with sufficient distance between the platform and the sheet to admit inked fingers into printing engagement with the sheet, an inking slab rotatable on the platform to positions 180 apart, means on the platform providing a recess into which the slab is receivable at either of said positions, a shaft fixed to the center of the slab and depending through an opening in the platform, and a knob formed on the lower end of the shaft by which the slab may be elevated out of the recess when the knob is moved up into engagement with the platform and may thereupon be rotated to either of said positions and be lowered into the recess.

3. Finger printing apparatus comprising a bridge-like platform structure adapted to straddle a finger print record sheet mounted on a supporting surface with sufiicient distance between the sheet and the platform to admit inked fingers into printing engagement with the sheet, means on the upper surface of the platform providing low walls defining a substantially rectangular recess, an inking slab conforming to the shape of the reces and adapted to fit therein in either of two positions 180 apart, a shaft fixed to the center of the slab and depending therefrom through an opening in the platform, and a knob carried by the lower end of the shaft, said shaft normally extending sufficiently below the platform to enable the knob to be elevated to lift the slab in one 'of its terminal positions out of the recess and be thereupon rotated through 180 and lowered into its other position.

PARK K. SOWASIL 

